Do you help in the forums ?

If you do, or you would like to be you are not sure about something, then maybe this is for you.

All other aspects of WordPress have their own niche area, yet Forum Support does not. We supply a constant stream of support that cover a very wide range of issues, yet as a group we have only our individual views on the forum and all the issues it raises. We are integral to the success of WordPress but we need to make sure that we don’t get burned out too. The Codex page and Mailing list are an attempt to address this.

Using these, we can discuss issues, find common ground and then if needed take action from there or bring it to the attention of someone who can help us.

Couple of points:
– this is NOT a place to seek support for WP problems. No support will be given.
– this is NOT the place to start trying to get bbPress replaced with phpBB or Vbulletin or any other flavour of forum.

– it IS the place to post (and read) about any aspect of forum help.

And there is no agenda behind this, no plans for anything – so if you do help here, or you would like to but are not sure and need some advice, then please do contribute.

I do like to help, and would enjoy doing and learning more. Even if it means taking on the questions that get answered the most often, allowing the more experienced and knowledgeable members to deal with the more complex questions. Consider me registered for the mail list, and I’ll check out the codex page.

@jalenack
Without the bad-mouthing, retort-at-innocent-comment and close-post-when-I-darn-well-please mavens, I think we would be better off 🙂

Support is wonderful, free support is great, flying-off-the-handle is not. Irrespective of how helpful a person is doesn’t give him the right to behave outrageously. Such juvenile behavior is tiring to say the least.

Just because I can close a post to new replies doesn’t mean one should do so at his whim or when the discussion turns even slightly against his sweet liking. There needs to be a clear code of conduct, specially so for such a well-visited forum.

I wouldn’t mind helping, as always, so long it doesn’t consume a significant portion of my time.

Note: These comments are targeted for very few individuals and do not reflect in any way on others. By and large I think most members, often many without the venerable “Support Maven” status, are very helpful and go beyond their call of duty.

I am hoping this post will be a wake-up call to the very few for whom things have gone, a bit, to their head. To quote Pingomation – “Slow down cowboy!”

Regardless of your opinion on the matter, angusman, I fail to see how your comments are germane. As an every day schmoe, I’d ask you to move comments which “are targeted for very few individuals” to a more appropriate venue as all posts on this support forum should be targeted at the very large number of people who seek support. Perhaps the new mailing list is a good choice for this type of discussion, perhaps not. But whether or not you feel any individual person should hear your comments, this forum does not need them nor does it benefit by them.

This concerns usability and friendliness of the forums. Yes the problem I am seeing is with few individuals but the effects are not. It affects lots of members in different degrees. Do a search to find out frustrations poured out by other members in the past. You can dismiss them, make caustic remarks or try to understand their source of frustrations and improve.

Simply because it is relevant to the forum, does not mean the forum is the best place to discuss it. If the issue is with an individual, there’s no need to bring it up in public. I should think a polite, private communication would be more effective.

And I still stand by that it is not relevant to this thread which is an announcement saying “let’s talk about stuff over there”. If your comment were “actually, I’d like to talk about this this stuff right here”, I could understand. But it is not.

I try very hard not be dismiss problems, or make caustic remarks about them. Trying to understand their source is excellent and I laud you for it. I am honestly not trying to be a jerk. I am only saying that I feel this is off topic and that the issues you bring up are better dealt with elsewhere.

If you disagree, so be it. If you’d like to contact me privately, please feel free to do so.